For almost 20 years, eleven:eleven has been a unique and fresh expression of worship at FUMCFW – one with a mission of engaging “ex-vangelicals”, people “done with church,” the “church hurt,” and spiritual refugees/seekers of every sort. eleven:eleven provides an alternative, creative experience of reconnecting with Christ and the church in unexpected and playful ways. We continue to be a safe space for faith exploration and questioning that has both redefined and renewed peoples’ experience of Christianity and has had a lasting, transformative impact on people who would otherwise likely be lost to the Church!
For almost 6 years, we’ve been meeting at the Historic 512 venue of the Center for Transforming Lives. It’s been a great relationship, and a joy to support the healing, empowering work of the CTL! But late last Fall, we were notified the Historic 512 would be shutting its doors as an event venue in July. And the CTL would be selling its location on 4th Street to build a larger facility on FW’s Eastside.
I, and members of Team 11:11, quickly began a search for a suitable site that would continue to serve the missional objectives of the eleven:eleven worship service. I connected with more than a dozen possible sites which were either unavailable or too far away, insufficiently equipped to accommodate our online community, or too small for our growing in -person community. We’d hoped to find a facility that would be both uniquely invitational in design and large enough for the worship service’s continued growth.
We located that perfect space at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens, in their Dorothea Leonhardt lecture hall and hospitality wing!
Making that connection was certainly a “God” moment, as I suspected they were far beyond our price point and would probably already be occupied with a Sunday morning service. I hadn’t given it a second thought. One afternoon in January, Linda and I finished walking the gardens and accidentally met the young woman who manages facility use/rentals as we offered to help her move some boxes and things (they were closing for the day). The conversation led to our being pastors at FUMCFW and her politely confessing a disinterest in church (for a number of reasons), which led to my mentioning eleven:eleven! I subsequently met with her and then with their VP of Operations, 4 or 5 times with other Team 11:11 members, meetings with Pastor Lance and our Board of Trustees, and negotiated and re-negotiated on price point and facility upgrades (which they’d already begun doing as a result of our early conversations). The more we visited, the more excited we all were at this possible new relationship!
Then we got to do an unexpected test run of their facility in March as The 512 became a one-off film site for the upcoming Paramount series, The Landman! With only 4 days notice, we got the word out and hoped for half our usual crowd to show up. Instead, 115 people attended, including a dozen visitors to the Garden who stopped in to see what we were all about (and stayed)!
The Lecture Wing is on the right side of the main Garden building, with its own beautiful outside entrance and welcome center! It’s a great space – with comfy seats, great visibility and sound, single floor accessibility, and a large beautiful gathering area for coffee and conversations, not to mention how deeply resonant eleven:eleven is with FWBG’s own mission and vision! And, of course, it’s the FW Botanic Garden! (FYI, no ticket is required to enter the Lecture Wing. But purchase a ticket afterward to enter and visit the beautiful Garden exhibits and blossoming displays!)
So this Sunday, May 5th, at 11:11 a.m., we begin our next chapter in evolving faith, creative worship, and compassionate curiosity at the FWBG! The FWBG is a perfect setting for the eleven:eleven service and mission, and is only one exit off I-30 and just 6 minutes from FUMCFW (via Henderson to Lancaster to University Blvd)!
I hope you’ll come and visit us. Come early for coffee, tasty snacks, and friendly conversation
(or quiet reflection and prayer in the adjacent meditative garden)!
See you there!
Pastor Tom McDermott
